Mchinji, Malawi “When our facilitator told us that as a group we can start bank mkhonde – Village Savings Loans Association- and start getting loans for small scale businesses I saw that as an opportunity to change my life forever…” Idah Thawale is an 18-year-old girl from Chikondi Girls club in Zulu

Farhana Tuniuo, Pakistan “I had lost all hope and was about to drop out of school when I heard of the GALS (Gender Action Learning System) training. I thought it was a chance to turn my life around so I stepped out of my village for the first time ever to

Saira is a fifteen-year-old girl who belongs to a very poor and religious family in District Muzaffargarh, South Punjab. In her hometown, girls are often married before they reach their sixteenth birthday as many people in her community view child marriage as a way out of poverty and insecurity.

Aichatou Abdou, 17 years, has a one-year-old baby, Mahamadou Moussa. Two years ago, when she was 15 years old, she got married to a 47-year-old policeman. It was an arranged marriage, and she became pregnant after a year...